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SINGAPORE (Reuters) � Asian stocks rose on Monday to their highest in more than two years in response to optimism on the U.S. economy, while the dollar dipped to five-month lows against the euro.

Markets climbed broadly, but analysts said that data showing increased U.S. business spending, which prompted a rise on Wall Street last Friday, were far from unequivocal.

Suggestions that the Federal Reserve might further resort to quantitative easing to stimulate the economy kept the dollar in check. It lost ground throughout the region.

The index of Asian stocks ex-Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) climbed 1.05 percent, hitting its highest point since June 2008. In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei (N.225) rose 1.4 percent, buoyed by exporters after the Wall Street jump, but traders said gains were capped by the yen's enduring strength.

Shares of consumer lenders plunged after media said struggling Takefuji Corp (8564.T) was preparing for bankruptcy protection. Analysts discounted fears that this would seriously affect the Nikkei but also said any rises would also be limited.

"Wall Street's rise has provided a bit of a boost but gains on the U.S. data are mainly because the figures weren't quite as bad as expected, not that they were really good," said Takashi Ushio, head of the investment strategy division at Marusan Securities. "So gains on this alone will be limited."

Seoul shares also posted gains, though these were mitigated by pressure on Hyundai Motor, South Korea's top carmaker, which announced it was recalling some 139,500 Sonata sedans sold in the United States. Hyundai declined 2.17 percent.

RISE IN BUSINESS SPENDING

Economic reports on U.S. durable goods orders and home sales were mixed on Friday, but traders focused on a rise in business spending in August as the latest sign of a firmer recovery.

Wall Street gained almost 2 percent, putting U.S. stocks on course for four weeks of gains.

But subdued home sales and signs that manufacturing growth was slowing reinforced the view that the Fed may provide more monetary support to help the economy.

On Monday, the dollar was subject to further pressure.

It hovered near five-month lows to the euro and eight-month lows against a basket of currencies, pausing after steep losses last week and keeping the euro from pushing to new highs against $1.3500.

The dollar, quoted at 84.24 yen at 10:30 p.m. EDT, was hurt on Friday by stronger-than-expected data in Europe and expectations of further easing by the Federal Reserve.

One trader at a Japanese bank said dollar/yen would be caught between caution over another intervention by Japanese authorities and possible dollar selling by Japanese exporters ahead of the end of the first half of Japan's fiscal year.

"But even if stops near 84.00 yen are hit, I don't think we're in a market where the dollar will keep falling rapidly," he said. "It's scary to sell the downside."

Japan intervened on September 15 minutes after the dollar hit a 15-year low of 82.87 yen, selling an estimated 2 trillion yen ($23.7 billion), its largest single-day yen selling intervention.

The euro stood at 1.3466 after rising as far as $1.3496 on Friday, its strongest since late April.

Oil on Monday climbed to near $77, the highest level since mid-September, extending last week's rally as energy and commodities regain the favor of investors with a weaker dollar and resurfacing risk appetite.

(Editing by Tomasz Janowski)

NEW YORK (Reuters) � American International Group Inc and the U.S. government are moving closer to a deal on how the Treasury Department would exit its investment in the bailed-out insurer, sources familiar with the situation said on Sunday.

The situation, however, is still fluid and there are many moving parts, one of the sources said.

The plans may be unveiled as early as this week, but the exact timing of an announcement depends on the pace of negotiations, Bloomberg reported.

A possible conversion of the Treasury's $49 billion preferred stake in AIG into common stock is one of the options being discussed, Reuters previously reported.

Such a conversion, which could start as soon as the first half of next year, would possibly raise the government's stake in AIG to above 90 percent from nearly 80 percent. The Treasury would sell its common stake to investors over time.

"Our objective remains the same at AIG, which is to repay taxpayers and position AIG over time as a strong, independent company worthy of investor confidence," AIG said. The sources are anonymous because talks are not public.

The exit plan being discussed would chart the eventual disengagement of the government from AIG, which was propped up by a $182.3 billion taxpayer-funded aid package during the financial crisis.

The bailout saw funds from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Treasury, and was structured so that the Fed must be paid back first, which AIG still has to do. But the talks show that the insurer is making progress in its restructuring.

AIG owes the Fed about $21 billion under a credit facility. The Fed also owns $25 billion worth of preferred interest in two of AIG's foreign life insurance units that must be monetized.

The company expects a big part of that money to come in by the end of the year as it closes on the sale of American Life Insurance Co to MetLife Inc for $15.5 billion and lists American International Assurance (AIA) in Hong Kong. AIA is planning an estimated $15 billion IPO next month in Hong Kong.

(Reporting by Paritosh Bansal in New York, editing by Martin Golan)

BEIJING (Reuters) � A rise in the value of the yuan may intensify expectations for further increases and could lead to a worsening of China's international payments imbalance, a regional central bank official said in comments published on Monday.

The comments by Xu Nuojin, deputy head of the People's Bank of China (PBOC) Guangzhou, were published in the Financial News, a paper run by the central bank, and come amid growing pressure from Washington for faster yuan appreciation.

"Any efforts to address the international payments balance by adjusting the yuan exchange rate will achieve no results," Xu wrote in an opinion piece.

He did not elaborate on the currency issue, but he added that China has to boost consumption and investment to address the problem of high savings levels in the Chinese economy.

Many Chinese economists and officials, like Xu, have reiterated their view that the yuan, also known as the renminbi, is not undervalued and should not be blamed for China's trade and economic imbalances.

(Reporting by Zhou Xin and Kevin Yao; Editing by Ken Wills)

HONG KONG (Reuters) � American International Group Inc (AIG.N) will be required to hold a 30 percent stake in its Asian life insurance business, AIA Group Ltd, for a year after AIA's listing next month, the term sheet showed on Monday.

AIA's share offering is expected to raise about $15 billion, which will help its parent AIG to return part of the aid it received from the U.S. government during the financial crisis.

AIA began pre-marketing for the IPO on Monday to gauge demand and is expected to set a price range in coming weeks.

AIA was likely to sign up cornerstone investors during pre-marketing, ahead of its schedule to list on October 29, sources previously told Reuters.

The cornerstone investors would be subject to a lock-in period of six months, the term sheet showed.

AIA's management team is in advanced talks with several Middle Eastern and Asian sovereign funds to sell cornerstone stakes in AIA, which is the next major step in AIA's listing process.

Over the weekend, AIG said AIA would likely post a pre-tax operating profit of at least $2 billion for the fiscal year ending in November.

AIG, nearly 80 percent owned by the U.S. government, is disposing of assets to repay taxpayers who committed $182.3 billion to prop up the insurer during the financial crisis.

AIA would be unable to sell new shares within six months of listing, the term sheet showed.

Citigroup Inc (C.N), Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE), Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N) are joint global coordinators for the IPO.

(Reporting by Kennix Chim and Denny Thomas; Editing by Chris Lewis)